Prebiotics such as lactulose, inulin, psyllium, and other oligosaccharides (found in onions, garlic, asparagus, leeks, artichoke, bananas, tomatoes, wheat, oats, soy beans, and other plants) are nondigestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth or activity of bacteria in the GI tract which are beneficial to the health of the body

Since the quality and content of probiotics have not been regulated, it is difficult to accurately assess their efficacy and safety.

Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) may be prevented by coadministration of probiotics, as suggested by several randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Several comprehensive meta-analyses, recently published, all show that probiotics significantly decreased incidence of AAD (RR 0.39–0.43)

The most commonly used probiotics were S. boulardii, LABs, and several combinations of LABs, given in doses from 107 to 1011, for durations of 5–49 days, generally paralleling the duration of antibiotic therapy

by probiotic cotreatment in a number of studies

Clostridium difficile colitis (CDC)

has not consistently been shown to be prevented

Infectious diarrhea in both adults and children may be shortened by the use of probiotics

The majority (18 out of 23 studies) of the probiotics tested were LABs with two studies using S. boulardii.

There is good evidence to support the efficacy of S. boulardii and LABs and the combination of the two for AAD, VSL#3 for pouchitis, and B. infantis 35624 for IBS

Probiotics decrease the duration of symptoms in acute infectious diarrhea

Probiotics have been shown to be safe in immunocompetent hosts in an outpatient setting. However, administration of probiotics to immunocompromised, chronically ill, hospitalized patients with GI disorders, and indwelling catheters may predispose them to probiotic sepsis

Most hunter-gatherer diets resemble classic omnivory - about 70% of calories coming from plants. Not much meat, but just enough. Hunting is only a part of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and the mainstay is gathering, since hunters were not successful on a consistent basis - so meat was a bonus. A needed one, but not the backbone of the diet.

Also - variety - as we come from greatly varied backgrounds, their diets varied greatly... omnivory is the ability to find food in many different sources, and omivory is what made our brains larger - omnivores have to think, to figure out what is edible, how to make something edible, and to learn where and how to find food. It's an ongoing process.

Sometimes I’ll get a call or email from someone five years after the last contact and I’ll think, oh right, I hated that person. But they would never have known, of course. Let’s see if I still hate them. Very often I find that I don’t. Or that I hated them for a dumb reason. Or that they were having a bad day. Or much more likely, that I had been having a bad day.

People silently struggle from all kinds of terrible things. They suffer from depression, ambition, substance abuse, and pretension. They suffer from family tragedy, Ivy-League educations, and self-loathing. They suffer from failing marriages, physical pain, and publishing. The good thing about politeness is that you can treat these people exactly the same. And then wait to see what happens. You don’t have to have an opinion. You don’t need to make a judgment.

It's VERY common for people to think that if you are in a wheelchair, you cannot stand or walk at all. People assume "paralyzed." But the range of reasons why people may be using a wheelchair is very wide.

One possible response, of course, is to decide that no obesity policy is possible, because ‘science is undecided’. But this is a moron’s answer: science is never completely decided; it is always in a state of change and self-questioning, and it offers no final answers. There is never a moment in science when all doubts are gone and all questions settled, which is why ‘wait for settled science’ is an argument advanced by industries that want no interference with their status quo.

History is not kind to authorities whose mistaken dogmas cause unnecessary suffering and pointless effort, while ignoring the real causes of trouble

Interesting - I had a health class once with a teacher who, otherwise very anti-drug, thought heroin should be legal (for medical use) in this country. She said it allows people to remain lucid while pain-free rather than doped up, as with morphine. The fact that there are high functioning heroin addicts out there supports this. So many people have problems with chronic pain, and of course, any painkiller has drawbacks and side effects and can do damage used long-term, but if well-controlled and medically supervised, it seems we may be not only leaving an important tool out of our medical arsenal, but be allowing many people to die because of addiction. One more point of note - tobacco is more addictive than heroin! Wow.